Thank you pinky toe! Small and powerful.

How the pinky toe can change your body and spiritual mindedness.

Anusara Yoga Instructor, Elizabeth Goodman, takes an intricate look at The Svadharma of the Pinky Toe. She inspects the duty or calling of this tiny phalange. The little guy on the end that may fall under the neighboring toe, or have such a tiny nail that polish can barely hang on, or it sticks out of your shoes or scrunches in to fit in a pair of shoes:

The pinky toes are homely looking things, they do not fit well into most women’s shoes, they rather painfully bump into things, and they are hard to move independently. They are not essential for living and do not have the emotional charge of the heart and brain, the exquisite connection to the world of the sense organs, or the connection to life itself of the lungs.

The point is, that this little pinky toe has the ability to change the whole body.As she continues with:

Despite this, the call to lift and spread the toes, to draw the pinky toe toward the heel, or the hip happens just about every time I go to the mat in my practice or teach a class. Activating the pinky toe by opening it and spreading it apart from the other toes is a conscious act of opening that helps hug the shins to the midline. In hugging the shins in by means of activating the pinky toe, the yogi on the mat can then safely move the thighs back and apart, creating an expansion of the pelvic floor that provides room for more strongly tucking under the tailbone to access core power.

It’s a great reminder of the function and form of the human body. And upon greater examination, the pinky toe’s power is a great lesson for life off our yoga mats:

Off the mat, when all parts of the whole are fully conscious of and know their svadharma, the whole will itself have more consciousness, more light, and better experience the bliss of being. It is easy to see, without judgment or question, that the pinky toe cannot do the work of the heart, although when the pinky toe is working it can help contribute to an integration of mind and body that will further the opening of the heart and thus the whole person.

Stretch out so you can hug in. Thank you pinky toe!

Read more at www.rosegardenyoga.com

Are toe socks better for your feet?

YES. And now let me explain.

Sure, they feel a little weird when you first put them on…but in that ‘weirdness’ lies the magic. Your toes are spreading. I know, it doesn’t seem like that big of a deal. But think about it - wearing regular athletic socks draws the toes together, making them act as one unit. The purpose of the toes is to spread and anchor to the floor to help the body balance and stay aligned. By restricting this natural movement, you are inhibiting the body’s design and function. When toes spread, blood circulation increases and other muscles are activated.

The human foot is a remarkably well-design instrument with 26 bones, 33 joints, 20 muscles, and hundreds of sensory receptors, tendons and ligaments. The action of spreading the toes signals the shins, which signal the thighs, hips, and back. The smaller foot muscles, like the abductors, are commonly atrophied due to lack of use. When the toes spread out, these small muscles are used and strengthened, promoting foot health, cell renewal, and full-body support.

Toe socks are exercise for your feet even while wearing shoes.

Something they’re not.

To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Look at your feet. You’ll probably find five toes on the left foot and five toes on the right. Wiggle those digits and spread them wide. It might feel liberating or it might feel a bit straining (especially if you haven’t stretched your toes in a while). Now, appreciate the design of your body; there is an intention for how we are made. Our toes, each significant, separate to allow us to grip the ground, spring our bodies into motion, and help us stand still and straight.

However, whether for fashion, fitness, hygiene or comfort, we put our feet into shoes forcing our toes to squeeze in and act as one unit. Something they’re not.

We don’t wear one-legged pants or shirts with no sleeves, so why would we put our feet in one tube? How inhibiting is that? It’s time to think differently about what we put on our feet.

Nature is best

With the devastation lurking in the waters of the Gulf Coast, we may find ourselves feeling uneasy, sad, restless…with the thought: What can I do?

A couple ideas to get us less dependent on crude oil:

* Use natural fibers
* Drive less
* Avoid plastics

When tragedy is great, sometimes it just takes one small step in the right direction, multiply that by a billion and imagine…there would be a huge impact of hope, relief and good.

We can each do our part. And with that said, our sincerest thoughts and most hopeful wishes go out to Mother Nature and all her creatures.

Dirty Mats. Dirty Feet.

You walk into the studio and remove your shoes. Now what? Your barefeet have touched the floor. We tell ourselves they clean the floor. While this is probably true - to what extent do they clean them and how often? And what about everyone else's feet? Are they clean? Do they have a foot fungus they aren't aware of? We override these concerns and head to class where we sweat, drip, move to the floor, on/off the mat, and all around the equipment. Dirt and germs are lurking. Let's face this fact and now do something about it.

A 2006 article in the New York Times, Communal Yoga Mats: Beware of Germs, discusses communal mats, yoga and the rise of foot health issues. Tidbits include:

"Gyms have long been hothouses for unwanted viruses, fungi and bacteria, a result of shared equipment, excessive sweat and moisture in locker rooms. Many facilities provide disinfectant so clients can wipe down machinery, but they are often less diligent when it comes to exercise mats. It’s common to see staff members clean a stationary bike. It’s rare to see them disinfect a mat."

"Representatives at most of the 10 gyms and studios that a reporter called nationwide said that they aim to clean mats thoroughly once a week."

Giving Sole Support to Souls in Need

ToeSox Helps Organization by Donating 400 Socks

Carlsbad, CA. – May 19, 2010 – Carlsbad-based sock company ToeSox, Inc. has focused its goals on enhancing overall foot health, hygiene and safety. With this commitment in place, ToeSox was compelled to support Soles4Souls in its mission to put footwear on those in need. ToeSox launched a 1-for-1 promotion to their retail client-base and committing to donate one pair of ToeSox for every pair purchased in the month of April. The sales came in and more than 400 pair of ToeSox were shipped to Soles4Souls for distribution to those in need of footwear.

Soles4Souls organization, headquartered in Tennessee, began in 2004 after the tsunami hit Southeast Asia. From help abroad in Haiti to serving locally in the 2010 Tennessee floods, Soles4Souls is “changing the world one pair at a time.”

“It seemed like a natural fit for ToeSox to help,” says ToeSox president, Joe Patterson. Patterson hopes to work with Soles4Souls again in the future and give even more ToeSox to this organization that helps millions.